


It's My Party And I'll Nico Nico Nii If I Want To

by AlexIsOkay



Category: Love Live! School Idol Project
Genre: Angst, Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-07-22
Updated: 2017-07-22
Packaged: 2018-12-05 12:53:08
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,024
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11578458
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/AlexIsOkay/pseuds/AlexIsOkay
Summary: In honor of best girl Nico Yazawa's birthday, I decided to write a little oneshot about how Nico and the other members of μ's celebrate... Or don't.





	It's My Party And I'll Nico Nico Nii If I Want To

Nico’s shoes slapped against the steps as she rushed her way up the flight of stairs, short legs taking them two at a time. She wasn’t used to being late to practice, but at the moment she had a good excuse! It was a very special day, after all, and upon waking up and finding that her younger siblings had prepared her a birthday breakfast, Nico couldn’t just rush out of the apartment without making sure to spend some time with them. If she was a little bit late to practice, so be it. She was sure the other members of μ's would understand.

Finally she reached top of the stars, throwing open the door and bursting out onto the roof of Otonokizaka where the other eight girls were waiting, all of them mid-routine. “I’m-!” Nico started to announce, before being promptly cut off by Eli.

“Late?” she asked, breaking formation and turning to face Nico. “Practice started almost half an hour ago. We were starting to wonder if you were even going to bother showing up.”

“Gimme a break,” Nico huffed in response, crossing her arms over her chest. “It’s a special day, you know.”

“Just because it’s the first day of summer break doesn’t mean you can start slacking,” Eli replied. “If anything, now that we have no responsibilities with our schoolwork, that’s even more reason to-”

“Are you serious??” Nico interrupted. “I’m not talking about the first day of summer break! I’m talking about something even more important than that!”

“Wait, really?” Honoka chimed in, putting a finger to her chin thoughtfully. “Is there something else important going on today?”

“It’s National Hammock Day!” Rin suggested.

“And National Drowning Prevention Day!” Hanayo added on. “That seems pretty important!”

“Why do you even know that??” Nico blurted out, jabbing her finger accusatorily towards the two first years. “How do you know about National Drowning Prevention Day but not know it’s my birthday??” That statement earned a unanimous _Ooohhh_ from the other girls before Nozomi spoke up.

“Sorry Nico-chi,” she said, folding her hands in front of herself and smiling politely. “I guess with all the focus on summer break and our new training schedule it slipped everyone’s mind. I’m sure nobody meant to forget about you.”

“Speak for yourself,” Maki chimed in. “I just didn’t think it was a big deal.”

“You mean you knew and you didn’t even say anything about it??”

“Nobody else was saying anything about it either!” Maki huffed defensively. “I didn’t realize I was supposed to!”

“How would you feel if somebody forgot your birthday??”

“You did!”

“That’s enough of that,” Eli interrupted again. “Nico, happy birthday. We were in the middle of something when you showed up, though, and I’d like to get back to that before everyone gets too distracted and loses focus.” Which, with some of the other more excitable members like Rin and Honoka around, was a very valid concern.

“You guys are ice cold,” Nico grumbled under her breath, before reluctantly going to take her spot in their formation.

“Alright everyone!” Eli called out, taking her own position as the other members fell in around her. “One, two, one, two, three, go!”

* * *

Nico was, somewhat understandably, uncharacteristically quiet for the rest of practice. It likely wasn’t hard to figure out why she was irritated with the rest of her group members at the moment, although if she was trying to punish them by not talking, it was certainly backfiring. From everyone else’s perspective, it was surely the most peaceful practice they had ever had.

“Good work today everyone,” Eli said as the practice finally came to a close, walking over to grab the water bottle she had left by the edge of the roof. “I’ll see everyone here at the same time tomorrow morning. Try to be here on time.” While the comment wasn’t technically directed at anyone in particular, given that only one person had been late that day, it was pretty easy to tell who Eli was talking to.

“Hey, hold up!” Nico protested, finally breaking her vow of silence. “Everyone’s just leaving? We’re not even gonna do anything together now that practice is done?”

“We’re sorry, Nico,” Kotori said softly. “But since it’s the first day of our summer break… I think everyone already made plans.”

“Honoka, Kotori and I are all heading into the city after this,” Umi explained.

“And Kayo-chin’s taking me to sample the new rice crop!” Rin said while tossing her arms around Hanayo, earning a startled squeak from the other girl.

“Meanwhile Eli-chi and I are headed to the beach. I’ve been dying to see her in her new bathing suit,” Nozomi giggled, flashing a flirtatious smile in Eli’s direction and earning flushed cheeks and an immediate break in eye contact in return.

“Sorry Nico!” Honoka said. “We’ll all be sure to do something with you some other time, okay?”

“W-Whatever! It doesn’t even matter,” Nico huffed. “Since it’s my birthday I’ve got plenty of other stuff to do! I was just trying to be nice by offering to hang out with you guys, but if you don’t want to then you’re the ones missing out!” With that Nico grabbed her spare clothing and her bag off the ground, walking back towards the door into the stairwell.

“See you later, Nico!” Honoka called out.

“Yeah! If I’m not too busy for you guys!” Nico called back, before disappearing through the door. The moment she was out of sight of the rest of the group she broke into a sprint, running down the stairs three at a time even though she was nearly tripping and hurting herself in the process. Her feet hit the ground of the next floor down with a loud noise, and immediately afterward she tore out into the hallway. The school was empty now that summer break had started, but she still knew that there was a chance of being seen out here, whether it was by one of her group members, or simply by a random student who happened to be at the school. For that reason she didn’t stop running until she had reached the bathroom, rushing into a stall and slamming the door shut behind her. And then she finally broke down.

Alone on her birthday. Apparently this was how much her friends thought of her: not at all. They hadn’t even remembered that it was her birthday, and they had all made plans without her. Now they were all spending time with each other, and Nico was left like this, hugging her knees up to her chest in a bathroom stall while trying and failing not to cry. Some celebration this was turning out to be.

Sniffling far too loudly for her own liking Nico reached down into her bag, digging through it before pulling out an old and worn envelope. The once bright color of the paper had faded, and the edges and corners in particular were a bit ripped up, but as Nico opened it up, she pulled out a card that was still in as perfect condition as it had been the day she got it. The words “HAVE A SWEET 16” were printed across the font in enormous letters, along with a glittery cupcake that still retained its sparkle two years later. Opening the card up, Nico began to read.

“ _To my favorite school idol,_

_Happy sixteenth birthday! I still can’t believe I’m actually writing that. It feels like only yesterday when you were still small enough for me to carry you home on my shoulders after school, and now I’d probably throw my back out if I tried. When you become a parent everyone warns you that your kids will grow up faster than you realize, but you’re still never prepared when it actually happens._

_I’m so unbelievably proud of the person that you’ve become over the past year. Nothing makes me happier as a dad than seeing my little girl work hard and achieve her dreams. I’m sorry that I haven’t been able to make it to all of your concerts recently, but I hope you know that I’ll always be cheering for you, no matter where I am. I know you’ll go on to do great things, so always keep your head held high, and never lose that special Nico Nico smile. Happy birthday kiddo._

_Love,_

_Dad”_

By the time Nico finished reading the message tears were flooding down her cheeks, but the last few lines were the reminder that she needed. “That’s right!” she told herself, carefully tucking the card back into its envelope. “Never stop smiling!” With one last sniffle she forced herself to pull it together, jumping up from the edge of the toilet where she had been perched with an energetic “Nico Nico Niii!” She wiped the tears from her face with the hem of her shirt, grabbing her bag and leaving the stall.

Even if she had nobody else to celebrate with, Nico could still give herself the birthday she deserved. The club room was stocked full of her favorite idol DVDs and magazines, and if she got hungry later there had to be some shops close to campus that would be selling sweets she could treat herself to. It wasn’t the perfect way to celebrate, but if she had to choose between sitting around feeling sorry for herself or doing something fun, there was really only one right option.

Two hallways and another flight of stairs later Nico stood in front of the club room, reaching out and grabbing the doorknob. She pushed the door open, ready to start her private DVD-watching marathon, when-

“SURPRISE!!!!!!!!” Nico practically jumped out of her skin when eight voices all shouted that word out in unison, and as the clubroom lights flicked on she saw the other members of μ's all standing there with smiles on their faces. The club room had been decorated, with streamers hanging from the ceiling and balloons scattered around the floor, a large banner that read “HAPPY 18TH BIRTHDAY NICO” in rainbow lettering stretched over the table in the center of the area.

“W-What the heck is this??” she blurted out, eyes darting back and forth between every detail of the room in a state of bewilderment.

“C’mon Nico!” Honoka said, putting her hands down on the table and leaning in from the far side of it “You didn’t really think that we’d forget your birthday, did you?”

“So you pretended to forget just so you could surprise me? Th-That was seriously mean!” Nico huffed, crossing her arms over her chest once again.

“Hmm?” Nozomi asked, suppressing a small giggle. “I thought you were too busy to spend time with us anyway, Nico-chi.  And now you look like you’re about to cry? That’s strange.” Hearing those words made Nico realize that there were, in fact, tears stinging at her eyes once again, and she quickly spun around on her heels, turning her back to the rest of the group in hopes that they wouldn’t notice.

“Sh-Shut up!” she protested, although that was the only rebuttal she was able to come up with. She was startled a moment later by the feeling of arms slipping around her hips from behind, and the sound of Nozomi’s voice in her ear.

“Since it’s your birthday I’ll be nice and pretend I didn’t notice,” she teased. “But if you’re done being your cute little tsundere self we should serve the ice cream before it melts.” With that she slipped away, walking back towards the table. Nico slowly turned around to face the room once again, watching as her groupmates busied themselves with setting out plates and scooping ice cream, talking amongst themselves all the while. Even though the room was full, there were a few seconds where no eyes were on her, and she appreciated the brief moment of what felt like privacy. A genuine smile crossed over her face, lingering there briefly before turning into her signature Nico Nico grin.

“Alright!” she called out. “Let’s party! And there’d better not be any weird flavors over there!”


End file.
